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14-Year-Old Pleads Guilty In 2 Minneapolis Shootings

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A now 17-year-old boy pleaded guilty Wednesday to two shooting incidents from 2010 and 2011, according to the Hennepin County Attorney.

Kyreon Tyrell Keangelo Watkins pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree assault and one count of first-degree assault for the two shooting incidents.

Watkins was only 14 years old in the first incident on Feb. 27, 2010. In that case, police say Watkins got off a bus after two of his acquaintances were shot near 49th and Humboldt avenues.

Watkins then ran after the shooter and fired eight shots. He was later arrested and sent to juvenile court.

There were numerous hearings and evaluations regarding the February case on whether he was competent to stand trial and whether he should be tried as an adult. While those hearings were taking place, Watkins was placed in a residential treatment facility.

On a weekend pass from that facility, after he turned 15 years old, Watkins showed up uninvited to a graduation party on June 10, 2011 on the 3200 block of Logan Avenue North.

He and several others were wearing all red and were told to leave because there was “no gangbanging” at the house, according to a criminal complaint.

Watkins, angry after being told to leave, then pulled out a handgun with a laser sight and pointed it at a partygoer on the front porch, police say. A man was shot in the shoulder and abdomen and taken to the hospital in critical condition. He survived his injuries, according to the complaint.

Watkins will be sentenced on July 30 where he’s expected to receive a prison sentence of more than nine years.

“Gun violence, regardless of the age of the shooter, must be firmly and directly met,” Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said in a released statement. “This sentence is appropriate for this unacceptable conduct.”